Critic Reviews

• Charles Gant, Variety

  Willfully exploitative...

• James Plath, Movie Metropolis

  Worth watching, but the whole just isn't nearly as effective as some of the parts.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  Based on the same true story previously told on film with skill (2000's Essex Boys) and without (2007's Rise of the Footsoldier), it's kind of difficult to understand why there's yet another movie version. Especially one as uninteresting as this.

• Emma Dibdin, Total Film

  Everything from script to performances goes through the motions, with only Vincent Regan's Mickey registering in more than one dimension.

• Jack Thursby, Film4

  Though director Sacha Bennett's effort is well shot and evokes its mid-nineties setting well, its disjointed structure makes for a weak narrative, and only in the third act does it finally come together with any sort of momentum or urgency.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Uninspired, ridiculously sweary British gangster thriller that's let down by tedious characters, a badly written script and a dull storyline that fails to provide a reason to care.

• Xan Brooks, Guardian [UK]

  A pungent mess of gangster cliche.

• David Gritten, Daily Telegraph

  A thin, wan script, acting that's mostly embarrassing, and a stream of foul expletives where a script should be.

• David Aldridge, Radio Times

  One must question whether it needs to exist at all, ploughing as it does an already well-worn crime-film furrow.

• David Hughes, Empire Magazine

  Decently made and well-acted, but with a whiff of glossy, high-life voyeurism.

• Chris Prince, Sky Movies

  There's no hiding the fact that Bonded By Blood is ultimately pretty anaemic, giving no further insight into an already over-exposed incident.

Read all 11 critic reviews